Site Mobile Navigation

Braves’ Free Swingers Face Dodgers’ Staff of Aces

Freddie Freeman hit 23 home runs during the regular season for the Braves.Credit
John Bazemore/Associated Press

In the mid-1990s, when baseball added the division series to be played before the league championship series, nobody said much about the randomness of the postseason. The Atlanta Braves ruled the National League and simply owned the new round.

In the first five seasons of the modern division series, 1995 through 1999, the Braves were 15-2 in that round, stamping on whoever dared to cross their path. Then the calendar turned.

Since 2000, the Braves have played in seven division series and lost six, including their last five. They hosted the inaugural N.L. wild-card game last season and lost that, too.

But the Braves keep coming back for more, and their resiliency is admirable. After a colossal fade at the end of the 2011 season, they recovered to win 94 games last season and 96 this year, making a bumpy ride look smooth.

Photo

Each teamm has a talented player from Curaçao.Credit
The New York Times

Injuries claimed starter Tim Hudson and two top setup men, the left-handers Jonny Venters and Eric O’Flaherty. Two everyday players, Dan Uggla and B. J. Upton, hit under .200., and Uggla was left off the playoff roster. Yet the Craig Kimbrel-led bullpen still had the best earned run average in the majors, at 2.46, and the offense, led by Freddie Freeman and Justin Upton, was deep enough to lead the league in home runs.

The troubling part for the Braves is that their hitters also led the N.L. in strikeouts (tied with the Mets), and will face a Los Angeles Dodgers staff that ranked second in that category, behind Cincinnati. From Clayton Kershaw’s curveball to Hyun-jin Ryu’s changeup to Zack Greinke’s baffling mix of hard and soft stuff, the Dodgers have swing-and-miss pitches to exploit a boom-or-bust offense.

The Dodgers are the favorites because of their sprint through the summer and their collection of aces, which helped produce a 3.14 rotation E.R.A., the team’s best in 22 years. But there are reasons for worry.

The Dodgers’ fourth starter, Ricky Nolasco, slumped at the end. Ankle injuries have finished one outfielder for the postseason (Matt Kemp) and severely limited another (Andre Ethier). Yasiel Puig, the electrifying rookie, hit .214 in September.

Photo

The Braves’ Craig Kimbrel led a bullpen that had the best earned run average in the majors. Credit
Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Another factor to consider: the Dodgers’ slow start cost them a chance for home-field advantage in this series. A potential Game 5 would be in Atlanta, where the Braves had the majors’ best home record, at 56-25. Then again, none of those games were against Kershaw, the best pitcher in baseball, who presumably would start the finale.

CURAÇAO CONNECTION Both teams include an impact player from Curaçao, which has produced 14 major leaguers since Hensley Meulens became the first in 1989.

Andrelton Simmons, the Braves’ dazzling young shortstop, led the majors in defensive wins above replacement, according to Baseball-Reference.com. Reliever Kenley Jansen was a pivotal part of the Dodgers’ recovery from a 30-42 start. From June 22 through the end of the regular season, the Dodgers were 62-28, helped largely by installing Jansen as the closer. He converted 25 of 27 save chances in that stretch, with a 1.30 E.R.A.

IN GOOD COMPANY Clayton Kershaw won the E.R.A. title for the third year in a row, at 1.83, becoming the first Dodger since Sandy Koufax with a sub-2.00 figure. Kershaw, who is a lock to win his second N.L. Cy Young Award, will be trying to make a return trip to the World Series: he was there last season to accept the Roberto Clemente Award for community service. Kershaw and his wife, Ellen, have helped build an orphanage in Zambia, among other projects.

PITCHING LIKE AN ACE The Hall of Famer Don Sutton, the Dodgers’ career wins leader, has spent more than 20 years in the Braves’ broadcast booth. Last season he said that he would have loved playing with the Braves right-hander Kris Medlen: “He has a communication with a force in pitching that most of us can’t talk to. It’s an awareness; it’s a sixth sense.” Sutton added: “When he steps in and stares in to that catcher, that little man on his shoulder’s going to take over and tell him what to do. And he’s done it well.” The little man was missing for a while this season, but now he is whispering all the right words. In his last 11 starts, Medlen is 9-1 with a 2.04 E.R.A., confirming his status as an ace.

PINSTRIPED LEGACY Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly was a celebrated one-team star as a player, spending all 14 seasons of his major league career with the Yankees. Braves’ Manager Fredi Gonzalez also spent his entire playing career with the Yankees, but his was in the minor leagues. Gonzalez played six seasons, mostly as a Class A catcher, and hit .199. His final stop was in 1987 at Class AA Albany-Colonie, a team that also included Al Leiter, Hal Morris and Derek Jeter’s future agent, Casey Close.

SWEET MUSIC Fans at this series will enjoy sounds that used to be common at the old ballgame — music from the ballpark organ. Nancy Bea Hefley is an institution at Dodger Stadium, where she has been the organist since 1988, while Matthew Kaminski has filled the role at Turner Field since 2009. Both are on Twitter — @NancyBea and @BravesOrganist — and Kaminski welcomes suggestions from fans on songs to play for the Braves’ opponents.

COMMON ALUMNI Two champion Yankees managers, Casey Stengel and Joe Torre, also spent time in the dugouts of the Braves and the Dodgers. Pitcher Andy Messersmith brought forth modern free agency when he jumped from the Dodgers to the Braves after the 1975 season (three years, $1 million). Dusty Baker, Andruw Jones, Greg Maddux and Gary Sheffield also played for both teams, as did Alejandro Pena, the winning pitcher for the Dodgers the night Kirk Gibson homered in the 1988 World Series. Three years later, Pena lost Game 7 for the Braves in Minnesota, allowing a game-ending single to Gene Larkin in the bottom of the 10th inning.

PLAYOFF HISTORY The teams competed for 25 years in the geographically confused N.L. West, with the Braves winning tight pennant races in 1982 and 1991. Atlanta prevailed in a 1996 division series, three games to none, with victories by John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. The most significant game between the teams happened early in a season: the major league debut of Jackie Robinson, for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Boston Braves, on April 15, 1947.